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Getaways: Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina is one of our favorite cities in the American South, which, to paraphrase a line from The Big Lebowski, would place it high in the runnin’ for our favorite world wide. Charleston embodies- perhaps more succinctly than any other city- everything that we love about Southern culture. There’s an undeniable sense of history there, the town itself was established in 1670, and the shots that began the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor in 1861. Many of the buildings from that era still stand in Downtown Charleston today, and the antebellum mansions that line the area south of Broad Street known as The Battery are some of the finest examples ever built, most of which have been meticulous...

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Charleston, South Carolina is one of our favorite cities in the American South, which, to paraphrase a line from The Big Lebowski, would place it high in the runnin’ for our favorite world wide. Charleston embodies- perhaps more succinctly than any other city- everything that we love about Southern culture. There’s an undeniable sense of history there, the town itself was established in 1670, and the shots that began the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor in 1861. Many of the buildings from that era still stand in Downtown Charleston today, and the antebellum mansions that line the area south of Broad Street known as The Battery are some of the finest examples ever built, most of which have been meticulously restored., The food scene is also legendary, you’d have to go out of your way to find a bad meal in Charleston. The weather is pleasant year round, and the beaches of Sullivan’s Island can be found just minutes from downtown. But most of all it’s the storied Southern Hospitality that set the town apart, the people of Charleston as a whole are so genuinely friendly that it’s almost startling. We’re not alone in our admiration for The Holy City, both Travel & Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler magazines named Charleston the best city in the US for 2013, and Conde Nast readers once voted it the greatest city in the entire world. Best of all, it happens to be an easy weekend getaway, so fill our Stash No. 67 chestnut leather duffel bag, with some seersucker and madras and experience the magic for yourself.
Where To Stay:
There is no shortage of hotel options in Charleston, with glossy new properties being added each year. But the inns and b&b's of Charleston allow you to sleep inside some of those beautiful old mansions, so why in the world wouldn’t you? There are dozens of properties that will rent you one of the original bedrooms, but none are grander than Wentworth Mansion, which offers 21 rooms and suites with details like antique furniture, marble fireplaces and Tiffany stained glass windows.
Where To Eat:
Everywhere. Charleston has a more impressive selection of quality restaurants than most cities five times its size. For traditional Southern comfort food, the shrimp & grits and chicken biscuit from Hominy Grill are tough to beat. For those that like their cuisine more haute, farm-to-table king Sean Brock became a local icon with his restaurants Husk and McCrady’s.Where To Drink:
Charleston is very much a cocktail town, with plenty of watering holes to fill the demand. It’s also a college town, and the bars and lounges along Upper King Street play host to a parade of revelers of the young and attractive variety. If you’d like something a little more dark and divey, grab a tallboy of Budweiser from Big John’s tavern, which has been serving cadets from the nearby Citadel since 1955 and doesn’t look like it’s been cleaned since.
Where To Shop:
Lower King Street is the main shopping strip downtown, packed with boutiques, antique shops and art galleries alongside glitzy outposts from brands like Gucci and Louis Vuitton. It’s also where you’ll find Ben Silver, one of our favorite classic menswear stores anywhere in the world, worth a visit for their legendary selection of crested blazer buttons alone.
How To Get There:
As the popularity of Charleston has expanded so too has Charleston International Airport, located just ten miles from the heart of downtown. Jet Blue and Delta both offer non-stop flights from New York City, with fares as low as $75 each way.

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Best of Both Worlds: Backdated Porsche 911s

In the pantheon of sports cardom, there is perhaps no single model more iconic than Porsche’s legendary 911. Much of this can be attributed to the fact that the 911 has been the 911 for so long- 50 years as of 2013 in fact. It’s a single nameplate sportscar run bested only by Chevrolet’s Corvette, the main difference being that most every generation of the 911, every “evolution” as the folks in Stuttgart like to call them, has been praised as nearly perfect.
The basic platform and shape of the 911 has remained essentially unchanged, a long hooded, bubble backed 2+2 with flat six engine hanging beyond the rear axle, giving an unbalanced weigh ratio that makes handling terrifying to the uninitiated and sublime to those that hav...

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In the pantheon of sports cardom, there is perhaps no single model more iconic than Porsche’s legendary 911. Much of this can be attributed to the fact that the 911 has been the 911 for so long- 50 years as of 2013 in fact. It’s a single nameplate sportscar run bested only by Chevrolet’s Corvette, the main difference being that most every generation of the 911, every “evolution” as the folks in Stuttgart like to call them, has been praised as nearly perfect.
The basic platform and shape of the 911 has remained essentially unchanged, a long hooded, bubble backed 2+2 with flat six engine hanging beyond the rear axle, giving an unbalanced weigh ratio that makes handling terrifying to the uninitiated and sublime to those that have mastered it. Advances have been made along the way, with each new evolution offering increased power and updated technology, but any Porsche 911, regardless of the year it was made, is instantly and unmistakably a 911. The cult of Porsche is strong and global, and collectors, voting with their dollars, have made it clear that two generations of 911s are considered superior to all the others.
One is the model known internally as the 993, produced from 1994 to 1998 and heralded as being “the last of the air cooled” as Porsche moved to water cooled engines in their next evolution, known as the 996. The ultimate version of the 993, the Turbo S, now trades hands for north of $200k, creeping into the territory of the most valuable regularly produced 911, the infamous 1973 Carrera 2.7 RS.
The other is the very first iteration of the 911, produced from 1963 until 1973. These are known in the Porsche community as a “longnose” since safety regulations in 1974 required Porsche to add external bumpers on the front and rear, shortening the length of the hood to accommodate them. These early 911s, admired for the beauty of their simplicity have become prized amongst collectors, with the price of entry tripling over the last ten years, from $20k+ to $60k+ for a decent runner. The only issue with these first 911s is that as they didn’t benefit from the advances in engineering applied to the later cars- they simply weren’t as good from a technical standpoint. Nostalgic and attractive yes, but from a practical standpoint, anti-lock brakes, power steering, better suspension, improved transmissions, and increases in horsepower genuinely made for a better car. The ideal 911 to many then would be the lines and looks of a longnose, with all of the upgrades of more modern models.
This was exactly the thought process of a handful of capable enthusiasts. If the 911 chassis had essentially been the same all along, couldn’t a newer car be made to look older? After all, Porsche owners for years had been doing just the opposite, adding aftermarket body panels to the frames of older 911s to make them look like the newest models, and a quick scan of eBay motors will easily find you several 70’s and 80’s era 911s made to look like they were from the 90’s. The concept of taking cars from the 80’s and 90’s and “backdating” them to look like Porsches from the 60’s is a newer one, but one that’s quickly gained traction.
The most visible of these conversions come from the shop of former rock musician Rob Dickinson’s Singer Vehicle Designs, whose “reminagined” 911s begin life as 1989-1994 964 model car before being stripped of their body panels, as well as nearly everything else, and being rebuilt as the ultimate interpretation of a longnose 911. Singer takes backdating and customization to the extreme, spending close to 4,000 hours of labor on each car. The eye-popping results have a price tag to match, oft ending up in the $300k+ range. But for those with a more realistic budget, backyard backdates can be achieved for significantly less. These generally begin as cars from the 1974-1983 era, which can be readily found for under twenty grand. All body panels other than the doors are removed, replaced with modified steel or fiberglass replicas of the original longnose parts from a growing number of small manufacturers that specialize in crafting them. The parts themselves are not terribly expensive, with the majority of the effort being in the labor of perfectly matching the original lines. But even those who wish to farm the work out to a qualified body shop can attain a basic backdated 911 with the sex appeal of the early cars and the safety and performance of later ones for a grand total of less than thirty thousand dollars.
While purists may scoff at these “Frankenstein” Porsches, those with a real passion for driving can’t get enough. Just ask Achim Anscheidt, the man who designed the mighty Bugatti Veyron, the $1.2 million dollar supercar touted as the fastest in the world. His daily driver is a backdated ’81 911. We happen to be huge fans of them as well. Proven performers with rugged reliability and classic lines are the same traits we strive for when handcrafting our Express Series of bags, a pair of which happen to fit perfectly in the trunk.

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Hand Crafted: The ICON 4x4 FJ40

Here at Ghurka, we’re big fans of cars, particularly the classics. And we love a good adventure, the type that takes one off the beaten path. So great old cars that are purpose built to go on such adventures take a special spot in our hearts. We also take great pride in being craftsmen, in eschewing mass production and instead painstakingly creating by hand the finest product we possibly can, regardless of the additional time and expense, and have a great admiration for other companies that do the same. Rarely do we find things that combine all three of these passions, and even rarer that they do it as well as the ICON 4x4 FJ40.
ICON 4x4 is the brainchild of Jonathan Walsh, a Californian with a particular affinity for vintage Toyota La...

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Here at Ghurka, we’re big fans of cars, particularly the classics. And we love a good adventure, the type that takes one off the beaten path. So great old cars that are purpose built to go on such adventures take a special spot in our hearts. We also take great pride in being craftsmen, in eschewing mass production and instead painstakingly creating by hand the finest product we possibly can, regardless of the additional time and expense, and have a great admiration for other companies that do the same. Rarely do we find things that combine all three of these passions, and even rarer that they do it as well as the ICON 4x4 FJ40.
ICON 4x4 is the brainchild of Jonathan Walsh, a Californian with a particular affinity for vintage Toyota Land Cruisers. He owned TLC, a Land Cruiser specific restoration shop that became so well known it caught the eye of Toyota themselves, who hired Walsh as a consultant. Walsh had long sought the “ultimate” Land Cruiser, and unable to find one that met his exacting specifications, he decided to create his own. Entirely from scratch. That’s a bold undertaking regardless of the vehicle, but if any car were to be rebuilt upon and improved to perfection, there are few that would be more fitting of the treatment than the Land Cruiser, as that sort of passion is in its very DNA.
To understand the Land Cruiser, one has to go back more than 60 years. America was entrenched in war with Korea, and it needed a faster and more economical way to get its Willys Jeeps to troops than building and shipping them from the States. So the army contracted Toyota, and gave them the blueprints to replicate 100 Willys Jeeps and deliver them directly to Korea. After building the cars engineers at Toyota felt convinced that they could design a similar go-anywhere vehicle that was even better than the Willys, and set out to do just that. By 1951, their product, internally known as the BJ, would make it further up Mount Fujithan any other vehicle ever created. The BJ would be rechristened the Land Cruiser, and its most popular iteration, the FJ40 would be introduced in 1960. It was the FJ40 that Walsh particularly loved, and much like theToyota engineers half a century before with the Willys, he set out to build something that was even better. But there was one main difference between Walsh’s ICON and the engineers in Japan is that while Toyota needed to make vehicles that were economically feasible from a business stand point, for Walsh, price was no object. The ICON just had to be perfect.
To build the ICON, Walsh sourced technologies from a number of industries, bringing innovations from architecture and aeronautics into the automotive fold. The chassis and body panels are all laser cut from military strength aluminum, and the “paint” is actually a teflon/polyester hybrid powdercoat that will never rust or fade and never requires waxing. The polarized sunshades were sourced from Lear Jets, the interior material is displayed in the Museum of Modern Art, and the windshield hardware comes from industrial grade freezers. You won’t find an inch of plastic on the ICON FJ, and any part Ward couldn’t find a suitable upgrade for he designed and machined himself. Every ICON is individually designed specifically for each customer, who can choose from over a hundred options in suspension, exhaust, electrics, and accessories, and whether they’d like a manual or automatic transmission mated to the “base” 350hp engine or be upgraded to the 420hp 5.7 liter V8. The whole design process takes several months, and everything is assembled by hand, start to finish, at ICON’s Los Angeles factory.
The result is a fully bespoke vehicle that could very well be the greatest SUV in the world. There is nothing outwardly opulent about an ICON, it is a vehicle that has been stripped down to only what is absolutely necessary. But what does remain is designed and manufactured with an attention to detail that is unmatched in even the most expensive mass marketed automobiles. The ICON is also an extremely effective tool, a go anywhere vehicle that will outperform anything else is existence, and made to still be doing it a lifetime from now. This obsessive quest for perfection doesn’t come cheap- an ICON FJ40 starts around $130,000 and can easily double from there depending on the options. But what that buys you is much more than a car; it’s a rolling piece of art, a usable, tangible representation of an overwhelming passion. And it’s also pretty damn cool to boot. So what does one keep in the cargo space of an ICON FJ40? Nothing short of another rugged, handcrafted luxury item that’s built to last a life time would do, which is why we suggest our Kilburn II No. 156in vintage chestnut leather.

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Ghurka Features

Our Leather

The Stitching

The Brass

The Process

Our Leather

Ghurka leather is never pretreated to remove any flaws, we must begin by using the most naturally flawless hides available. While we utilize a variety of leather types based on which is best suited to a particular product, the majority of our goods are made from French calfskin. Calfskin has a finer grain and softer feel than traditional cowhide as the younger age of the animal brings less exposure to the harsh elements, the main cause of imperfection. French calfskin in particular is considered the finest in the world due to the fact that farms in France do not use barbed wire, one of the leading causes of mars and scratches. As no two skins are completely alike, each and every handcrafted leather Ghurka product will have an individual character that adds to its unique patina as it ages.

The Stitching

We use an extra-thick spun nylon that should never snap or fray, and all of our craftsmen ensure that each and every piece is stitched to our exacting standards. A careful review of any two parts of a Ghurka leather luggage piece will reveal exactly the same number of stitches per inch, a requirement for anything that leaves our workshop. The placement of these stitches is equally exact, precisely laid out to the millimeter to ensure that every bit of leather is assembled to last a lifetime.

The Brass

Brass is the only metal we've found that offers the strength, durability, and reliability that have become our hallmark. Every single piece of our hardware - from zippers, buckles, and hooks to the smallest of snaps and rivets are made solely from this rugged and beautiful material. A great deal of time and expense has been invested in perfecting our brass zippers. Every single tooth is individually machined and polished to ensure flawless operation after years of continuous use. And since all of our leather briefcase and leather travel bag hardware is solid brass and never plated, it too will develop a unique character and patina as it ages alongside our famous leather.

The Process

Since our founding, Ghurka has set out to manufacture the highest handcrafted leather goods available in the U.S. This has always begun with using only the finest hides in the world. While there are endless varieties of leather available, only a handful pass the rigorous selection process required to bear the Ghurka medallion. Likewise, our signature solid brass hardware and trademark stitching process ensure that our bags deliver an unparalleled owner experience and lifetime of use.

Our Leather

learn more

show less

Our Leather

Ghurka leather is never pretreated to remove any flaws, we must begin by using the most naturally flawless hides available. While we utilize a variety of leather types based on which is best suited to a particular product, the majority of our goods are made from French calfskin. Calfskin has a finer grain and softer feel than traditional cowhide as the younger age of the animal brings less exposure to the harsh elements, the main cause of imperfection. French calfskin in particular is considered the finest in the world due to the fact that farms in France do not use barbed wire, one of the leading causes of mars and scratches. As no two skins are completely alike, each and every handcrafted leather Ghurka product will have an individual character that adds to its unique patina as it ages.

The Stitching

learn more

show less

The Stitching

We use an extra-thick spun nylon that should never snap or fray, and all of our craftsmen ensure that each and every piece is stitched to our exacting standards. A careful review of any two parts of a Ghurka leather luggage piece will reveal exactly the same number of stitches per inch, a requirement for anything that leaves our workshop. The placement of these stitches is equally exact, precisely laid out to the millimeter to ensure that every bit of leather is assembled to last a lifetime.

The Brass

learn more

show less

The Brass

Brass is the only metal we've found that offers the strength, durability, and reliability that have become our hallmark. Every single piece of our hardware - from zippers, buckles, and hooks to the smallest of snaps and rivets are made solely from this rugged and beautiful material. A great deal of time and expense has been invested in perfecting our brass zippers. Every single tooth is individually machined and polished to ensure flawless operation after years of continuous use. And since all of our leather briefcase and leather travel bag hardware is solid brass and never plated, it too will develop a unique character and patina as it ages alongside our famous leather.

The Process

learn more

show less

The Process

Since our founding, Ghurka has set out to manufacture the highest handcrafted leather goods available in the U.S. This has always begun with using only the finest hides in the world. While there are endless varieties of leather available, only a handful pass the rigorous selection process required to bear the Ghurka medallion. Likewise, our signature solid brass hardware and trademark stitching process ensure that our bags deliver an unparalleled owner experience and lifetime of use.